Plumbers Local No. 195

PLUMBERS, LOCAL NO. 195 United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipeflitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195 and Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals. Case 23-CD-359 August 22, 1977 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS PENELLO AND WALTHER On April 29, 1977, Administrative Law Judge James T. Rasbury issued the attached Decision in this proceeding. Thereafter, Respondent filed excep- tions and a supporting brief, and the General Counsel refiled his brief which was submitted to the Administrative Law Judge. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the record and the attached Decision in light of the exceptions and briefs and has decided to affirm the rulings, findings, and conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge and to adopt his recommended Order. ORDER Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board adopts as its Order the recommend- ed Order of the Administrative Law Judge and hereby orders that the Respondent, United Associa- tion of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195, Nederland, Texas, its officers, agents, and representatives, shall take the action set forth in the said recommended Order. DECISION STATEMENT OF THE CASE JAMES T. RASBURY, Administrative Law Judge: This case was heard before me in Beaumont, Texas, on January 24, 1977. The charge was filed by Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals (herein Charging Party or Employer) on May 6, 1976,' and the Regional Director for Region 23 issued a complaint alleging the United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195 (herein the Union or Respondent), to have violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended (herein Act). The relevant and material facts herein occurred during the calendar year 1976 and all dates hereinafter will refer to that calendar year unless otherwise indicated. 2 This summary has been taken directly from the Board's Decision and 231 NLRB No. 90 Upon the entire record, including my observation of the demeanor of the witnesses and after due consideration of the briefs filed by the General Counsel and the Union, I make the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. JURISDICTION The Employer is a limited partnership maintaining its principal office in Silsbee, Texas, and is engaged in the business of importing, storing, and interstate distributing via pipeline, barge, and oceangoing vessels of petrochemi- cal products, and maintaining a pumping and storage facility in Orange County, Texas. During the calendar year 1976, which period is representative of all times material herein, the Employer received total gross revenues in excess of $150,000 from the interstate distribution of petrochemicals from its Texas facility directly to customers located outside the State and, also during this same period, received at its Texas facility goods valued in excess of S1 million, which materials were shipped directly from firms located outside the State of Texas. The Respondent's answer admits and I herewith find the Employer, or Charging Party herein, to be an employer engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Respondent Union admits and I herewith find that it is, and at all times material herein has been, a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. III. THE ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES A. The Issue The issue here is a very narrow one and may be succinctly stated as follows: Following the Board's 10(k) Decision and Determination of Dispute, does a respondent union violate Section 8(bX4XD) of the Act if it fails to comply with that portion of the decision which requires that it notify the appropriate Regional Director, "in writing, whether or not it will refrain from forcing or requiring the employer, by means proscribed by Section 8(bX4XD), to award the work in dispute to its members rather than to the unrepresented employees." B. Background and Facts of the Dispute2 During April and May, the Employer was involved in connecting a South Hampton Company petrochemical pipeline to its storage tanks in Orange County, Texas. The disputed work involves the installation of piping, flanges, and valves on the storage tanks located on the Employer's premises. At the time the dispute arose, the Employer had assigned this work to its own employees who were not represented by any union. Determination of Dispute which issued on September 23 (226 NLRB 94) and which is in evidence as part of the General Counsel's formal papers (G.C. Exh. I(a)). Additionally, Chief Engineer Fred R. Crawford appeared before me and reaffirmed his earlier testimony. 525 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Subsequent to hearing rumors that the Pipefitters claimed the work and were planning to picket, Chief Engineer Fred R. Crawford, on or about April 26, met with the Union's business agent, Valentine, at the Pipefitters hall in Nederland, Texas. At this meeting, Crawford explained that the disputed work would be performed by employees of Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals. Valentine maintained that the disputed work was new construction and argued that the Union was performing all the new construction in this area. Crawford testified that the conversation ended with a statement by Valentine that "I [Crawford] could go ahead and do what I wanted to do, and that he [Valentine] would do what he had to do ... ." Around 10:30 a.m. on May 3, a union business agent, Ellis, and two other men approached Crawford and Working Foreman Waldo at the Employer's facility in Orange County, Texas, asked them by whom the piping work would be performed, and, when told that Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals employees would perform the work, stated that a picket would be placed at the facility gate. Shortly thereafter the Union commenced picketing the only entrance to the Employer's facility with a sign that stated: This is to advise that South Hampton Company does not employ nor do they have a contract with Pipefitters Local 195. Thereafter, Employer's employees who were performing the work in dispute left the worksite and refused to cross the picket line until after the picketing ended.3 On May 10, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas in Beaumont, Texas, pursuant to a petition for an injunction under Section 10 of the Act, entered a temporary restraining order enjoining picketing, threats, and other coercive conduct by the Union at the Employer's facility. A stipulated injunction was entered by the court on May 12. As indicated, on April 26 and May 3, union representa- tives claimed the disputed work. Thereafter, the Union picketed the only entrance to the Employer's facility. Crawford testified that one of the pickets told him in the presence of Ellis that "the only way we [the Employer] would ever get the pipe installed on those tanks was to sign a contract with Local 195, the Pipefitters." It is clear that the object of the Pipefitters picketing was to have the Employer assign the disputed work to the Union. There is no evidence that the parties have agreed upon a method for the voluntary adjustment of the dispute. Accordingly, we find that there is reasonable cause to believe that Section 8(b)(4XD) has been violated and that the dispute is properly before the Board for determination under Section 10(k) of the Act. The limited testimony presented by the Employer and the failure of the Pipefitters to appear at the hearing resulted in evidence pertinent to only a few of the relevant :$ The employees of the two subcontractors who were performing work on the premises, General American Transportation Corporation and Nacogdoches Fabricating Company, stopped working when the picketing commenced and refused to cross the picket lines until after the picketing ended. The employees of the third subcontractor, Dillahunty Electric Company, worked for the remainder of the day and then refused to cross the picket line until the picketing ceased. factors which the Board normally considers in making an award of the disputed work.4 The Board reached the following conclusion and set forth its Decision and Determination of Dispute in the following language: In the absence of any contractual obligation to the Union for performance of the disputed work, or evidence with respect to any other relevant factors, we conclude that the assignment of the work to its employees by the Employer, their qualification to do the work, and their performance of the work in a satisfactory manner require an award of the disputed work to the unrepresented employees of the Employer. DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and upon the foregoing findings and the entire record in this case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby makes the following Determination of Dispute: 1. The Employer's unrepresented employees are entitled to perform the work of installing the piping, flanges, and valves on its storage tanks. 2. United Association of Journeymen and Appren- tices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195, is not entitled, by means proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act, to force or require the Employer to award the above work to its members or to employees it represents. 3. Within 10 days of the date of this Decision and Determination of Dispute, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195, shall notify the Regional Director for Region 23, in writing, whether or not it will refrain from forcing or requiring the Employer, by means proscribed by Section 8(bX4)(D), to award the work in dispute to its members rather than to the unrepresented employ- ees. C. Evidence of Events Which Have Transpired Since the Board's 10(k) Determination The evidence is clear and convincing that Respondent has not complied with paragraph 3 in that portion of the Board's "Determination of Dispute" as immediately set forth above. When asked to stipulate regarding Respon- dent's failure to comply with the provisions of paragraph 3, Respondent's counsel replied, "I have not, to my knowl- edge, and to my knowledge the Respondent's officers have not presented any written document to the Regional Director concerning the intentions of the Respondent to comply or not to comply with the Determination of Dispute by the Board." In order to make the record clear 4 N. L. R.B. v. Radio and Television Broadcast Engineers Union, Local 1212, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO [Columbia Broadcasting System], 364 U.S. 573 (1961); International Association of Machinists, Lodge No. 1743, AFL-CIO (J. A. Jones Construction Company), 135 NLRB 1402, 1410-11 (1962). 526 PLUMBERS, LOCAL NO. 195 that there had been no oral agreement by Respondent to comply with the Board's Order, Respondent's counsel was requested to make a statement in this regard and stated in open court: "It is my recollection that the essence of the conversation was that I took the position that I could not promise in writing, or verbally, for that matter, that there would never by any further picketing by Pipefitters Local 195 . . ." Mr. Crawford's testimony made it equally clear, how- ever, that Respondent has not actually picketed or in any manner threatened to picket in violation of the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute. In fact he testified there had been no contact whatsoever between Respondent and the Employer since September 23. D. Respondent's Arguments As I perceive Respondent counsel's arguments, they are as follows: (1) The Board's own rules do not require Respondent to submit notice in writing of its intent to comply; 5 (2) Respondent argues there has been no contact whatsoever between it and the Employer since the Board's Determination of Dispute and therefore it cannot possibly be guilty of "engaging in, inducing or encouraging," etc., in violation of the statute; (3) the scheme of the Act relates only to jurisdictional disputes between rival unions and the Act was never intended to cover "claimed work" disputes between a union and an unrepresented group of employ- ees; and (4) that the Act specifically permits picketing for informational and recognitional purposes and, except as set forth in Section 8(b)(7)(C) of the Act, under the factual situation of this case a violation cannot be found. Analysis Respondent's arguments are both interesting and clever, but if they have any validity they should have been advanced at the time of the 10(k) hearing. As the Board recently stated in International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers, AFL-CIO, Local 433 (Plaza Glass Company), 6 "it is established that a hearing de novo is not required in the unfair labor practice case on issues litigated in the previous 10(k) proceeding, especially where, as here, Respondent offers nothing not previously considered therein." In my opinion Respondent reads the Board's Rules and Regulations (Section 102.91) much too narrowly. That section requires Respondent to comply with the Board's determination. The Board's Decision and Determination must be read in its entirety and not piecemeal. A portion of that determination requires Respondent to advise the Regional Office, in writing, whether or not it will refrain from forcing or requiring the Employer, by means I Sec. 102.91 of the Board's Rules and Regulations reads as follows: Compliance with determination; further proceedings.-If, after is- suance of the determination by the Board, the parties submit to the regional director satisfactory evidence that they have complied with the determination, the regional director shall dismiss the charge. If no satisfactory evidence of compliance is submitted, the regional director shall proceed with the charge under paragraph (4)(D) of section 8(b) and section 10 of the Act and the procedure prescribed in section 102.9 to 102.51. inclusive, shall, insofar as applicable, govern: Provided, proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D), to award the work in dispute to its members rather than to the unrepresented employees. This is an essential part of the Board's determination and it is undenied that Respondent has not complied. The Board has already found that there was a dispute over certain work being performed; that Respondent sought to have that disputed work assigned to it by picketing and by threatening that "the only way we [the Employer] would ever get the pipe installed on those tanks was to sign a contract with Local 195, the Pipefitters." This Decision and Determination of Dispute is as binding on me as I believe it to be on Respondent, and I have no alternative but to accept and give it full force and credit. Respondent's contention that the Act contemplates only jurisdictional disputes between rival unions and thus the instant situation should not be considered as being proscribed by Section 8(bX4XD), because the Employer's employees are unrepresented is misplaced. This issue was settled a number of years ago by the Board. In Teamsters Local 175, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauf- feurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, AFL (Biagi Fruit & Produce Company), 107 NLRB 223, 226 (1953), the Board, under factual circumstances very similar to those in the instant case had this to say: 7 It is clear from the record that the Respondent has no immediate or derivative rights under any existing contract upon which it could predicate any lawful claim to the work in dispute. As indicated above, the Company has no bargaining relations with the Respondent or with any other union. Nor does it appear that the Company is failing to conform to any order or certification of the Board determining the bargaining representative for the employees performing the work in dispute. Neither is there any question that the Company has assigned the work to its own employees. These facts are determinative of the present dispute. The Board has held that Sections 8(bX4)(D) and 10(k) "do not deprive an employer of the right to assign work to his own employees, nor were they intended to interfere with an employer's freedom to hire, subject only to the requirement against discrimination as contained in 8(aX3)." Consequently, in determining this dispute, it is sufficient on the facts before us that the Company assigned the work to its own employees, and that the Respondent engaged in proscribed activities to force or require the Company to assign this work to its own members. Accordingly, we find that the Respondent is not lawfully entitled to force or require the Company to assign the work of unloading its trucks at the Kroger warehouse at Charleston, West Virginia, to its members however, That if the Board determination is that employees represented by a charged union are entitled to perform the work in dispute. the regional director shall dismiss the charge as to that union irrespective of whether the employer has complied with that determination. 6 218 NLRB 848, 849 (1975); enfd. 549 F.2d 634 (C.A. 9. 1977). 7 See also, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Local 639(Bendix Radio Division of The Bendix CorporationJ, 138 NLRB 689 (1962). 527 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD rather than to employees of the Company. [Emphasis supplied.] The Board has recently made it crystal clear in Plaza Glass, supra at 849-850 that: Compliance with a 10(k) award requires a good-faith intent by the particular respondent to accept and abide thereby, including the performance of substantially the same acts as are required for a showing for an intent to comply with the remedial order of the Board.7 This showing includes, inter alia, a timely and unequivocal written statement to the Regional Director indicating such an intent, as is required by the 10(k) award.8 7 Cf. Local 595, International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers, A.F L., et al. (Bechtel Corporation), 112 NLRB 812 (1955). Bechtel Corporation, supra; Local 568, International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers, AFL CIO (Dickerson Structural Concrete Corporation), 204 NLRB 59 (1973). The Ninth Circuit in approving the Board's Decision in Plaza Glass, supra, pointed out that the Supreme Court has held that the APA does not apply to 10(k) proceedings; however, findings made in such a proceeding can be relied on as evidence that an unfair labor practice has occurred even in a proceeding governed by the APA. In approving the Board's Decision in Plaza Glass Co., the court said, "In order to comply, a party is required to notify the Board of its intent to comply. Respondent did not do so. Therefore, the Board was justified in acting on the prior charge." On the basis of clear and unmistakable evidence and Board decisions supported by the courts, I find that Respondent Union, by failing and refusing to notify the Regional Director for Region 23, in writing, of its intent to comply with the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute issued on September 23 (226 NLRB 94), has not complied with the award and has thus violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act. IV. THE EFFECTS OF THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES UPON COMMERCE The activities of Respondent, as set forth in section 1II, above, occurring in connection with the operations of the Employer, as set forth in section I, above, have a close, intimate, and substantial relationship to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE REMEDY Having found that Respondent has engaged in, and is engaging in, unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(D) of the Act, I shall order that it cease and desist therefrom and take " In the event no exceptions are filed as provided by Sec. 102.46 of the Rules and Regulations of the National Labor Relations Board, the findings, conclusions, and recommended Order herein shall, as provided in Sec. 102.48 of the Rules and Regulations, be adopted by the Board and become its findings, conclusions, and Order, and all objections thereto shall be deemed waived for all purposes. certain affirmative action designed to effectuate the policies of the Act. Upon the basis of the foregoing facts and the entire record, I make the following: CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals is an employer engaged in commerce and in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 2. Respondent United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195, is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. 3. Respondent has violated and is continuing to violate Section 8(bX4)(ii)(D) of the Act by failing and refusing to comply with the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute, thereby coercing and restraining the Employer with an object of forcing or requiring the Employer to assign the disputed work to employees represented by it. 4. The aforementioned unfair labor practices are unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the entire record in this proceed- ing, and pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act, I hereby issue the following recommended: ORDER8 The Respondent, United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 195, Nederland, Texas, its officers, agents, and representatives, shall: i. Cease and desist from refusing to comply with the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute, thereby coercing or restraining Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals, where an object thereof is to force or require Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals to assign the work of installing piping, flanges, and valves on the storage tanks located on the Employer's premises to employees represented by it rather than to unrepresented employees employed by the Em- ployer. 2. Take the following affirmative action which I find will effectuate the policies of the Act: (a) Post at its business offices and meeting halls copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix." 9 Copies of said notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 23, after being duly signed by Respondent's representatives, shall be posted by Respondent immediate- ly upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in conspicuous places, includ- ing all places where notices to members are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to insure that said notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. 9 In the event that the Board's Order is enforced by a Judgment of a United States Court of Appeals, the words in the notice reading "Posted by Order of the National Labor Relations Board" shall read "Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National Labor Relations Board." 528 PLUMBERS, LOCAL NO. 195 (b) Furnish the Regional Director for Region 23 with signed copies of such notice for posting by the Employer, if willing, in places where notices to its employees are customarily posted. (c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 23, in writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order, what steps Respondent has taken to comply herewith. APPENDIX NOTICE To MEMBERS POSTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD An Agency of the United States Government WE WILL NOT coerce or restrain Texas Oil & Chemical Terminals, where an object thereof is to force or require said Company to assign the work of installing piping, flanges, and valves on storage tanks located on the Employer's premises to employees represented by us rather than to their own unrepresent- ed employees. WE WILL comply with the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute decided September 23, 1976. UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN & APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING & PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, LOCAL No. 195 529